Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Recent trend in overweight and obesity in male adolescents in Austria: a population-based study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The aim of the study was to provide current estimates of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in young Austrian men and to determine both the trend over the study period and regional differences.

Method

Data extracted from the database containing the nation-wide compulsory conscription health examinations were analysed. Four cohorts of 18-year-old males (1986–1990: n=252,799; 1991–1995: n=209,266; 1996–2000: n=208,427; 2001–2005: n=209,168) were investigated. Measurements of height and weight were taken and, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Overweight was defined as a BMI ≥25.00 kg//m2 and obesity as a BMI ≥30.00 kg//m2. Information on place of residence of the young men was also collected. The t-test and Cochran-Armitage test were used for statistical analysis.

Results

During the study period, the prevalence of overweight among the study population increased from 12.9 to 15.5%, while that of obesity increased from 2.5 to 5.8%. A significant regional trend was found, with the highest proportion of overweight and obesity occurring among young male residents of the eastern part of Austria (p<0.001). Mean BMI was 22.38±3.05 kg/m2 in 1986–1990, increasing significantly (p<0.001) during the study period to 22.89±3.88 kg/m2. Overweight and obesity increased remarkably in young males in Austria between 1986 and 2005. The prevalence of obesity doubled during the whole study period.

Conclusion

Even in a small country as Austria, significant regional differences with respect to overweight and obesity can be found. Although limited to just one gender and a single age group, data from the nation-wide compulsory conscription health examinations could be a useful tool for public health monitoring.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. do Cormo I, dos Santos O, Camolas J, Vieira J, Carreira M, Medina L, Reis L, Galvao-Teles A (2006) Prevalence of obesity in Portugal. Obes Rev 7:233–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Eiben OG (1994) The Körnmend Growth study: secular growth changes in Hungary. Hum Biol Budapest 25:205–219

    Google Scholar 

  3. Eichholzer M, Lüthy J, Gutzwiller F (1999) Epidemiologie des Übergewichts in der Schweiz. Resultate der Schweizerischen Gesundheitsbefragung 1992/1993. Schweiz Med Wschr 129:353–361

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Eposito-del Puente A, Contaldo F, DeFillippo E, Scalfi L, DiMaio S, Franzese A, Valerio G, Rubino A (1996) High prevalence of overweight in a children population living in Naples (Italy). Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 20:283–286

    Google Scholar 

  5. Godina-Zarfl B, Elmadfa I (1995) Body Mass Index (BMI) as an indicator of obesity in childhood and adolescents. Akt Ernähr Med 20:201–206

    Google Scholar 

  6. Gordon-Larsen P, Adair LS, Nelson MC, Popkin BM (2004) Five-year obesity incidence in the transition period between adolescence and adulthood: the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Am J Clin Nutr 80:569–575

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. He Q, Albertsson-Wikland K, Karlberg J (2000) Population-based body mass index reference values from Göteborg, Sweden: birth to 18 years of age. Acta Paediatr 89:582–592

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kautiainen S, Rimpelä A, Vikat A, Virtanen SM (2002) Secular trends in overweight and obesity among Finnish adolescents in 1977–1999. Int J Obes 26:544–552

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kiefer I, Kunze U, Mitsche N, Kunze M (1998) Übergewicht in Österreich: epidemiologische und sozialmedizinische Aspekte. Acta Med Austr 4/5:126–128

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kromeyer-Hauschild K, Wabitsch M, Kunze D, Geller F, Geiss HC, Hesse V, von Hippel A, Jaeger U, Johnson D, Korte W, Menner K, Müller G, Müller JM, Niemann-Pilatus A, Remer T, Schaefer F, Wittchen HU, Zabransky S, Zellner K, Ziegler A, Hebebrand L (2001) Perzentile für den Body-mass-Index für das Kindes-und-Jugendalter unter Heranziehung verschiedener deutscher Stichproben. Monatsschr Kinderh 149:807–818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kuczmarski RJ, Flegal KM, Campbell SM, Johnson CL (1994) Increasing prevalence of overweight among US adults. The national health and nutrition examination surveys, 1960 to 1991. JAMA 272:205–211

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Lewis CE, Jacobs DR, McCreath H, Kiefe CI, Schreiner PJ, Smith DE, Williams OD (2000) Weight gain continues in the 1990s: 10 year-trends in weight and overweight from the CARDIA study. Am J Epidemiol 151:1172–1181

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Livingstone B (2000) Epidemiology of childhood obesity in Europe. Eur J Pediatr 159[Suppl 1]:S14–S34

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Maffeis C, Schutz Y, Oiccoli R, Gonfiantini E, Pinelli L (1993) Prevalence of obesity in children in north-east Italy. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 17:287–294

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Moreno A, Sarria A, Fleta J, Rodriguez G, Bueno M (2000) Trends in body mass index and overweight prevalence among children and adolescents in the region of Aragon (Spain) from 1985–1995. Int J Obes 24:925–931

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Ogden CI, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, McDowell MA, Tabak CJ, Flegal KM (2006) Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 1999–2004. JAMA 295:1549–1555

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Petersen S, Brulin C, Bergström E (2003) Increasing prevalence of overweight in young schoolchildren in Umea, Sweden from 1986 to 2001. Acta Paediatr 92:848–853

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Power C, Lake JK, Cole TJ (1997) Body mass index and height from childhood to adulthood in the 1958 British birth cohort. Am J Clin Nutr 66:1094–1101

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Prebeg Z, Juresa V, Kujundzic A (1995) Secular growth changes in Zagreb schoolchildren over four decades 1951–1991. Ann Hum Biol 22:99–110

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Rasmussen F, Johansson M, Hansen HO (1999) Trends in overweight and obesity among 18-year-old males in Sweden between 1971 and 1995. Acta Paediatr 88:431–437

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Rennie KL, Jebb SA (2005) Prevalence of obesity in Great Britain. Obes Rev 6:11–12

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Rissanen A, Heliovarra M, Aromaa A (1988) Overweight and anthropometric changes in adulthood: a prospective study of 17,000 Finns. In J Obes 41:552–559

    Google Scholar 

  23. Rudolf MCJ, Levine R, Feltbower R, Connor A, Robinson M (2006) The TRENDS Project: development of a methodology to reliably monitor the obesity epidemic in childhood. Arch Dis Child 91:309–311

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. SAS (2002–2003) SAS/STAT user’s guide, ver. 9. SAS Institute, Cary, N.C.

  25. Seidell JC, Verschuren WM, Kromhout D (1995) Prevalence and trends of obesity in the Netherlands 1987–1991. Int J Obes 19:924–927

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Sorensen TIA, Price RA (1990) Secular trends in body mass index among Danish young men. Int J Obes 14:411–419

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Tremblay MS, Katzmarzyk PT, Willms JD (2002) Temporal trends in overweight and obesity in Canada 1981–1996. Int J Obes 26:538–543

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Ulmer H, Diem G, Bischof HP, Ruttmann E, Concin H (2001) Recent trends and sociodemographic distribution of cardiovascular risk factors: Results from two population surveys in the Austrian WHO CINDI demonstration area. Wien Klin Wschr 113:573–579

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Whitaker RC, Wright JA, Pepe MS, Seidel KD, Dietz WH (1997) Predicting obesity in young adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. N Eng J Med 337:869–873

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. World Health Organisation (WHO) (1997) Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. WHO, Geneva (http://WHO/NUT/NCD/98.1)

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Edith Schober & Birgit Rami

  2. Institute for Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Sylvia Kirchengast

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Center of Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Thomas Waldhör

  4. Health Department, Ministry of Defence, Vienna, Austria

    Reinhart Sefranek

  5. University Children’s Hospital, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Edith Schober

Authors
  1. Edith Schober
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Birgit Rami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sylvia Kirchengast
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Thomas Waldhör
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Reinhart Sefranek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edith Schober.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schober, E., Rami, B., Kirchengast, S. et al. Recent trend in overweight and obesity in male adolescents in Austria: a population-based study. Eur J Pediatr 166, 709–714 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-006-0312-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-006-0312-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation